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The fan blade on a Pratt & Whitney jet engine had been used on about 3,000 flights since its last inspection when it failed on Saturday over suburban Denver. That was well within what the company and regulators previously believed was safe, according to two people familiar with the investigation. The fan blade, apparently weakened from a growing fatigue crack, broke shortly after takeoff, raining debris onto the ground and causing minor damage to the United plane, a Boeing 777-200. No one was hurt. In 2019, the US FAA had required additional inspections of blades on PW4000 models with 112-inch fans following a 2018 failure on a United flight to Hawaii. The FAA order called for initial inspections starting after blades had completed between 6,500 and 7,000 flight cycles. However, Saturday’s failure appears to have occurred well before then, said the two people, who requested anonymity because they weren’t permitted to discuss details of the inquiry. The significance of the failure after only about 3,000 flights isn’t clear. <br/>

Boeing was planning to replace engine covers on its 777 jets months before a pair of recent serious failures, the WSJ reported on Thursday, citing an internal FAA document. The US FAA Tuesday ordered immediate inspections of 777s with Pratt & Whitney RTX.N PW4000 engines before further flights, after an engine failed on a United Airlines 777 on Saturday. The planemaker and the FAA had been discussing potential fixes for about two years, following an earlier incident in 2018, according to the Journal. Boeing did not immediately respond to a request for comment. Although immediate attention has focused on the engine’s manufacturer, Pratt & Whitney, Reuters has reported that its cowling, or casing, is manufactured by Boeing.<br/>

United had planned a big increase in flights on its Boeing 777-200 planes next month, according to data, suggesting the grounding of the Pratt & Whitney-powered jets could create some scheduling headaches for the airline. United was planning to use the large jets more in March on as it tries to tap into an expected bounce in leisure travel. Numbers from aviation data firm Cirium show United had scheduled 3,329 flights on wide-body planes in March, up 31% from February. Of those flights, 961 were scheduled on the now suspended 777-200, a 84% jump from their usage in February. The suspension, which follows an engine failure on a United flight to Honolulu from Denver on Saturday, affects 52 planes. While United has dozens of narrow-body airplanes in storage due to the pandemic, it only has parked 48 wide-body planes with more than 190 seats, and none with as many seats as the 777-200, according to Cirium. “As we continue working through updating our schedule based on aircraft availability, we will do so with the goal of impacting as few customers as possible,” United spokeswoman Leslie Scott said.<br/>

Thai Airways reported a record loss last year after the coronavirus outbreak ground most of its services to a halt. The net loss widened to 141.2b baht ($4.7b), or 64.68 baht a share, from 12b baht, or 5.51 baht a share in 2019, Thai Airways said in an exchange filing Thursday. The annual loss was the largest ever for a Thai company, according to data compiled by the Stock Exchange of Thailand. Revenue slumped 73.8% to 48.3b baht. Thai Airways, which has posted losses every year barring one since 2013, is preparing to submit a debt rehabilitation plan to the bankruptcy court in Bangkok by March 2 in a bid to reduce its liabilities from 336.7b baht and return to profit. The airline has sold stakes in some units, cut staff and opened its flight simulators to the public to generate additional revenue and cushion the blow from an unprecedented hit to global tourism and travel industry. While the airline expects its performance in the first half to improve from a year ago with easing of some travel curbs, it will still be “negative,” it said. <br/>

Thai Airways International intends to put 10 Boeing 747-400s up for sale as part of its rehabilitation plan and has issued a request for proposals (RFP) to assess interest from buyers. The for-sale aircraft range in vintage from 1993 to 2003 and have total flight hours of between 67,027 and 115,026, a tender document dated 24 February shows. The aircraft are all located at Bangkok Suvarnabhumi International airport. “Currently, Thai is in the process of preparing its rehabilitation plan and, subject to the court order approving the rehabilitation plan, Thai shall officially invite bidders to submit official proposals in respect of the used passenger aircraft,” the carrier’s executive VP, technical department, Cherdphan Chotikhun states in the RFP. Those interested in submitting an indicative proposal must submit this “as soon as possible” and before 10 March at 17:00 Bangkok time.<br/>

Swedish-Danish airline SAS said on Thursday it still expected demand to return to more normalized levels next year after it reported a larger Q1 loss than in the prior year due to the hit on air travel from the pandemic. The spread of COVID-19 and related restrictions have seen air travel collapse over the past year, plunging the global airline industry into crisis and leaving carriers scrambling to secure funds to weather the slump. SAS completed a capital raise in late 2020 after a year of deep losses and hopes the roll-out of vaccines will provide some relief later this year. “The development of vaccines and vaccination programs provide hope that restrictions will ease and that we will see an increase in travel toward summer 2021,” SAS said. “SAS is monitoring global vaccination developments closely in order to be ready to quickly increase capacity when conditions permit,” CE Rickard Gustafson said. The company, which is seeking a new CEO after Gustafson unexpectedly announced his resignation in January to take the helm at bearings maker SKF, said it planned to open 180 direct routes for the summer, mainly within Scandinavia and Europe, provided that restrictions allowed for travel.<br/>

Lufthansa is adding more holiday destinations to its summer flight schedule from Germany in anticipation of a strong rebound in bookings, it said on Thursday, betting COVID-19 vaccines and testing will soon make vacation travel possible. Germany’s largest airline said it was planning to add around 20 new destinations from Frankfurt and 13 from Munich to locations such as the Caribbean, the Canary Islands and Greece. COVID-19 vaccines and testing, along with strict hygiene rules at airports and on planes, will be prerequisites for travel this summer, it said. “We expect many countries to relax travel restrictions towards the summer as more and more people have been vaccinated,” Lufthansa board member Harry Hohmeister said. Hohmeister said the airline xpects a sharp increase in demand once restrictions are lifted.<br/>

Air NZ has suspended trans-Tasman flights after Australia imposed border restrictions for arriving New Zealanders due to recent Covid-19 community cases in Auckland. An Air NZ spokeswoman said the airline had suspended quarantine-free services to Melbourne, Sydney and Brisbane until Sunday following new border rules set by Australia’s state and federal governments regarding anyone who has been in Auckland recently. “Once more information is known about current restrictions, we will update our schedule and customers accordingly.” As of Thursday evening the airline had cancelled three Auckland-Sydney services, two Auckland-Melbourne services and three Auckland-Brisbane quarantine free services. More cancellations are showing through to Monday, taking the total number of cancellations to at least 15. Air New Zealand’s website shows Auckland-Sydney fares are not available until March 11, Auckland-Melbourne fares are not available until March 13 and Auckland-Brisbane fares are not available until March 20.<br/>

ANA is taking steps to reach its sustainability goals by providing its inflight magazine and other onboard publications digitally. From April, these magazines and newspapers will be transitioned to be offered on the internet and on the Japanese carrier’s mobile app. ANA highlights that the decision to move these publications, including the inflight magazine, “TSUBASA-GLOBAL WINGS,” will result in the reduction of approximately 1,540 tons of paper emissions each year. The operator is focused on improving both sustainability standards and the travel experience for its customers. The company shifted the design of the inflight magazine to make it easier to read on screens. Additionally, it has language options in Japanese, English, and Chinese, which is similar to the initial paper format. Customers of the airline can have a read of it at any time via their mobile devices, not just on the aircraft.<br/>